I did this trip solo. Here is Iztaccihuatl at the end of the climbing season with its minimum snow cover. Enjoying acclimatization from all my winter expeditions I climbed Izta and Orizaba in 3 days and did them in record time (for me) without consciously trying.

Here is Popocatepetl spewing steam with part of Izta in the foreground.

This is what's left now a days of the once huge Knees glacier (and people still doubt there is global warming?!!!)

Looking back there's Popo in the background, the knees, and the knees glacier (now that I'm looking from the other side) with some crevasses showing.

Here is looking back at the Ayoloco glacier once I crossed it. I'm close to the summit and climbing fast.

Here I am at the summit, in a personal record time (5 hrs from La Joya Trailhead).

Here is a look south from the summit. Compare this photo to the home page photo to see the different conditions at the beginning of the season (early Nov 2004) and the end (late March 2005).

Going back I snapped this picture of what remains of the knees hut. In the background is Popocateptl. Popo's glaciers have now melted completely largely due to its volcanic activity. The difference in the last 6 years is dramatic. Here at the end of the season is seen without any snow to speak of. A very strange sight!

Still in La Joya with a beautiful sunset behind me. The end of a good day!

An hour later I am approaching the hut at 15,288'.

Here is looking at the endless scree of the southern face. That is right, You can climb Orizaba without Ice Axe or crampons! (little known fact) It's hard work though.
For me it was exciting since it was like climbing a new 18,000' peak but ending up at the same old summit I knew from so many times before.

I knew very near the top of this route there is the wreck of a Cessna that crashed years ago. As I climbed higher I found one of the wings.

I made myself a couple of mittens out of the material and this is what they looked like.

I laughed thinking what Eduardo Strauch (Andes Survivor-see discovery) was going to think about this when I'd see him days later. (He was pretty amused by this and said it totally reminded him of his ordeal). This solved my problem at last. My hands were warm, and my design worked to the point of being able to scramble up the rocks with them on.

Another picture of the wreck.
After spending about 20 minutes examining and photographing the wreck I moved on to finish my ascent up this route. When I hit the summit, there was nothing to be seen.

Looking into the crater.

As I was about to leave the summit, the sky cleared up just above me for a brief instant and I snatched this picture.

My round trip time ended up being 8 hours and 55 minutes. That is including the 20 mins I spent examining the crash site. This has been my fastest time up Orizaba even though I started a lot lower than we do up the north side (14,000'). I love guiding people up this mountain, but going fast, light and solo on this trip was a nice change for once.

The last picture is of my new friends from Texmalaquilla. Their father is standing behind and is the one who drove my car down and back up to pick me up. Their grand father Miguel Quintero has been keeping the register of ascents of the southern route for many, many years now. The kids were delighted to eat all my remaining energy bars which after 6 expeditions since November I was truly sick of.

It was a really nice experience to climb these two huge volcanoes within three days, and yes, all I used for both ascents were hiking poles and leather mountaineering boots. It's possible, you can "hike" the Mexican volcanoes if you catch them on the right condition, are willing to deal with less stable weather, and don't mind 3000 vertical feet of endless scree!

This was a great way to end my climbing season for Mexico and South America this year; what an amazing winter I had!